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Friday, August 31, 2012

Sheriff Fuzzball Ortega of Steelhead told Second Life Newser there would be a special party tonight at the Steelhead Ballroom. To celebrate the new season of the "Dr. Who" science-fiction TV show (premier episode Saturday), the party will have a Dr. Who theme. So break out your scarves & curly hair, your robot dogs, your sonic screwdrivers, Dalek avatars, and anything else Whovian.

Fans of Johnny Cash will like what's been built, or rather rebuilt, at the Arkansas State University area in Second Life. At the ASU Dyess Colony sim area, the famous singer's boyhood home has been reconstructed.

The full story will be available later, or you can head to ASU Dyess Colony (56, 213, 23) to see the house, and surrounding area, for yourself.

The Burn2 plots are going fast! You can find information on the burn this year at http://www.burn2org/ . If you have been there you know what fun the burn in SL can be. Fabulous builds to explore, loads of fun freebies, great entertainment and lots of parties with DJ’s.

There have already been town meetings , workshops and training for Ranger will start soon. Many of you expressed an interest in getting involved when you visited last year so now is your chance!! The sims are in place ready for builds to begin!

Daniel Voyager had some good news for the fans of Burn2 on his blog. It seems there are four new sims for the weeklong event in October. In addition to Burning Man - Deep Hole, there are: Burning Man - Black Rock, Burning Man - Elko, Burning Man - Guru, and Burning Man - Hualapi.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

This summer, Bryn Oh has a special exhibit on her Immersiva sim: "Virginia Alone." The exhibit tells the story of an elderly lady whom lived alone in her house for twenty years, nearly blind and suffering from mental illness. She knew something was wrong with her, and over the years made numerous tape recordings in an attempt to understand what was wrong with herself. Bryn interviewed her, and made the exhibit.

September 1. We are calling it HOLLYWOOD’S BIG DAY. Join us for twovery special events..

At 1PM we will be sharing with the Relay for Life community throughoutSL the premiere of the 2012 RELAY FOR LIFE OF SECOND LIFE Tour Video.Join us in the Hollywood Bowl for this exciting, touching, beautifulvideo bringing to everyone all the splendor and detail of this year’sRelay for Life in SL.

Starting at 11AM Starboards Yacht Club and Hollywood Airport will beco-ordinationing sail and fly ins for the event. Details will come inseparate notices later in the week.

Following the RFL Video we will be celebrating our new businessrelationship with Cutting Edge Productions by hosting the first of amonthly series of Tribute Concerts by Cutting Edge Productions, thepremier Tribute Band Performers in SL. The intial concert with be Elton John’s Live inMadison Square Garden. Be sure to bring your camera to get a uniquephotograph of Madison Square Garden rising up in the center ofHollywood Sim.

Grey Lupindo reports on a recent trip to a real-life location brought to Second Life: the Grand Canyon National Park. Here, one can do just about all there is at the real canyon. There are balloon rides, river rafting, horseback riding, hiking, watching from the skywalk, and more.

Last weekend came some sad news for space fans. Neil Armstrong, the first man who walked on the Moon, passed away. He was 82 years old.

The news certainly got many, including myself, pondering. It was a reminder of how long ago what some consider our high-water mark in manned space exploration was reached. It also got some wondering "What happened to him?" Unlike some astronauts whom stayed in the spotlight, such as Senator John Glenn, he instead went back to Ohio for a job in teaching and bought some farmland.

When his family was asked how should the rest of us remember him, one answered that the next time we see the moon, think of Neil Armstrong, his fellow astronauts, and the journey they went through.

A few years ago on the forty-year anniversary, there was an exhibit in the Second Life Sci-Lands that allowed residents to do just that. Built by a Wicked Quasimodo, it was never quite finished, and went up once an hour, along with any space fan whom was waiting for a ride. As the sim it was on, Space Frontier, is now gone, what happened to it is still unknown. But in Spaceport Bravo, west of Spaceport Alpha, one can still find this Saturn V Apollo rocket. One can just barely see my five-foot avatar at the bottom near the launch platform treads, showing just how big these massive rockets, and their launch pads, were.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

August comes to a close this week, and with Labor Day comes the end of the traditional summer season. Art lovers will enjoy "The Cube Project," taking place between several noted Second Life artists across 20 sims. And of course there is our usual list of music events, DJ parties, talk shows, church services, and competitions.

In the latest blog entry from last weekend, Linden Lab is going from "Fast, Easy, Fun" to "Fast Action Fun."

A new Premium giftis now available! Go Premium today and jump behind the wheel of your Premium-only interactive dune buggy for some fast action fun. Pop wheelies and take on obstacles as you dodge sand dunes and put the pedal to the metal with your buggy’s NOS boost system.

The dune buggy is available to Premium Residents only. To access the exclusive Racer’s Gulch, you must be a Premium member, so don’t delay! Additional Premium benefits include a private home, currency payouts, as well as expanded support. Put the pedal to the metal and take advantage this limited-time half-off promotion today.* Already Premium? Get it here.

Not being a Premium resident, I can neither get to Racer's Gulch, nor get the dune buggy to try them out. But there was a thread in the Second Life forums about the vehicle. A Hugsy Penguin tried it on his runway using a speed HUD, finding it's top speed was 68 kilometers per hour, or 42 miles an hour. As for it's performance, "There doesn't appear to be any gears. Handling is pretty bad." He didn't think it was designed for use outside Racer's Gulch, and even there takes practice, "It's difficult to maneuver if you get stuck. I've had to use edit mode. This is NOT a touring vehicle. It's useless for exploring the roads on the continents."

Most people didn't think much of the 58 prim mesh vehicle, one commenting wryly, "I wonder if this was intended as some kind of very bad joke: the gift is a buggy, and so is SL." Another remarked, "And we again see Linden Lab's inability to do the simplest marketing correctly." The SL Universe Forums also had a thread on the subject. Reaction there was a bit different. One resident reminded free players there should be freebies on Marketplace they could drive instead. Another reasoned that if the vehicle performed poorly, it could have been by design as to give the driver a taste for racing, and after interacting with serious racers with higher performance cars, would eventual buy Linden dollars to spend on one on his/her own.

One SLU poster identified herself as Bay City's Marianne McCann, whom cautioned against trashing a freebie gift, "The folks who made these are contractors to the Lab, developers whom may or may not be known by others … They work their butts off for not much money. They don't get advertising out of this. They are not employees of the Lab, or any of that. Just schmoes like the rest of us trying to do a job." She called the buggy "a nice little something," but by themselves these "goodies" were not a reason she pays for a premium account.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Last night, Sunday August 26, at the Patriot Island sim, the monthly fundraiser for the Wounded Warrior Project took place. The event, organized in part by musician Frets Nirvana, began at 4PM SL time, and continued to 9PM.

Taking place at the hangar bay stage, the sim was getting a bit packed with 45-50 avatars on it for much of the event. Most were human, but there were a few others, such as one wolfess with a veteran's spouse tag, and another avatar which was just a hat and dozens of butterflies. Among those in the audience was Passionate Redhead leader Sabine McGettin. Besides the fundraiser, the hurricaine in the Gulf made the discussion, "I swear, I did NOT say I needed a guy so bad that they had to send ISAAC to my doorstep, (laughter)."

With Acoustic Energy Nitely taking the stage, the donations had passed the 100,0000 mark, and were increasing. Frets Nirvana then began offering to match the donations people put up, "Who wants to break my bank? ... Double your money! Put it in the helmets. Pay it forward, and it will come back to you."

The donations continued to come in after Acoustic stopped playing. At 9:15, Frets Nirvana announced, "157,076 Linden total tonight. Thanks everyone." "Nite Frets, and thank you for being so awesome!"

Patriot Island is owned by the US Military Veterans Group. Besides home to a community of vets and the location of public events, it is in part a memorial site, a replica of the Tomb of Unknowns in the center. So visitors are asked to be respectful while visiting. The Wounded Warrior Project is a nonprofit group devoted to "honor and empower wounded warriors" of the US Military. The Project "began when several individuals took small, inspired actions to help others in need. The resulting objective was to provide tangible support for the severely wounded and help them on the road to healing, both physically and mentally."

Sunday August 26 was the last day of the "Hot Bay City Nights" car show in Bay City. The last event was a final party, with "Benny the Boozehound" DJing. Bay City noteables Uccle Poultry and Marianne McCann were there, as well as the winner of the Miss Bay City contest. The show, taking place over many days, raised funds for Childsplay, a charity aimed at providing sick children with video games.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Last week's Giant Snail races had a "Star Wars" theme to them, complete with one sporting a shell in the shape of the Death Star. The Force, or rather the farce, was with the racing gastropods, Tindallia Soothsayer, Gareth8 Albatros, Crash Soulstar, Baldi McMillian, and Lukurgas Liebknech, as they slimed their way down the track filled with Imperial and Rebel memorabilia.

Friday, August 24, 2012

It's election season, and with the US Presidential race in the news, some wonder what goes on behind the scenes, or simply grumble, "Oh I could do better than that." Either kind of person may be attracted to election-themed computer games. Recently, one appeared on Facebook: Campaign Story.

Recently, Ginette Pinazzo sat down with Ricky Grove, Kate Fosk and Pooky Ansterdam of Machinima Expo 2012 to discuss the upcoming event and some of the broader implications of machinima.*******Ginette:Regarding the previous years of the show, can you give me short capsule descriptions of what those each were like? Notable changes as the show progressed through the years?

While we at Second Life Newser work hard to find you the news, one source of stories is you the readers.

Have you seen a particularly well-detailed sim? Went to a great event? Found yourself in a hilarious "only in SL" predicament? We're very interested in what you the readers have to say. Send us a story or funny picture, and if we like it, we'll post it as a Reader Submitted. For pictures, jpg format is preferred.

Mail submissions to bixylshuftan(at)gmail.com.

PLEASE include your SL user name and tell us if you wish it to appear with your story.SL-newser reserves the right to post in the appropriate section and to investigate any names used in submitted stories (please ask permission before using anyones name or picture or use an alias for them).

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Over a year ago, a new type of avatar joined the ranks of the furries, tinies, dragons, and humans: the ponies. Although a community of "Brony" fans, as they're also called, experienced a crisis when its sims were taken down, the four-footed residents bounced back and continued to be seen in and out of their new Pony sims, as well as others using the cartoonish avatar on occasion at parties. Recently, a writer for the Newser asked if there was some trouble between the ponies and furries. One pony fan after reading the article contacted SL Newser, and asked for a chance to talk, saying while there was some trouble, it wasn't between the fans of these avatars.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Taken at the teardown of the Steelhead's RFL build, one of the team dropped a flock of virtual sheep, and another Steelhead (not Fuzzball) "wolfed out" in response with a werewolf avatar. But not having a pounce animation, he just stood there, as if in shock of all that mutton suddenly appearing around him.

Grease Coakes recently stopped by Bay City for it's car show, "Hot Bay City Nights." Raising funds for the childrens' charity Childsplay, the show offers a chance to get one of a number of cars with the Lindens going for a good cause, as well as other events from a bikini contest, to car washes, to parties.

On 4PM SL time on August 18th came the official close of the Relay for Life: the Wrap-Up party. Taking place in a temporary sim of the same name next to the permanent ACS Isle, it was a chance to reflect on the season this year, and look forward to the one ahead. For those who couldn't be there or had sound trouble, T1 Radio broadcasted the event on the Internet.

Following a poem read in honor of those who passed away from cancer, the Relay Commotte thanked the Relay's sponsors, as well as the Lindens for helping out with things like "last moment requests." There were a number of awards given out. Among them was a "Shapeshifter Award" given to Dwen Dooley for his amusing use of numerous avatars. Genie Ortega was also given an award for her "Squeee!" that spread around the Relay groups. The Purple People Eater" was awarded for it's creator's use of imagination and humor. There was also an award for Best Display Name to David Fangirl.

The top three performing teams were announced. Third was "SL Music Races for a Cure" with 4,172,000 Lindens raised or $16,688. Second was "Friends Fighting Cancer" with 6,670,000 raised, or $26,281. And the number one team was "Amaretto Ranch Breedables" with a whopping 8,668,000 raised, or $34,672.

The Spirit of Relay Team Award went to Team Shadow. The Individual Award went to Zanier Green.

Following the awards, the theme for 2013 was announced: "Celebrating 100 Years of Hope." This was in honor of the American Cancer Society's 100 year anniversary. The Kickoff event will be on March 9, 2013, with the Relay Walk on July 13-14, 2013. MamaP Beerbaum announced she was stepping down as the Chairwoman, "On one hand it is sad to say goodbye, but I will be relaying for years to come." For 2013, Nikki Mathieson will have the chair.

And with the song "One Hundred Years to Live," fireworks began going off outside the building, with the event officially coming to an end, "Have a great offseason," "It's hard to say goodbye to Relay." "Good night everybody."

The "unofficial total" raised for 2012, as of the time of the Wrap-Up event, is $374,829. The Steelhead Salmons, the team of one of the Newser's sponsors, were Platinum ranked with 551,650 Lindens raised, or $2,207. The Passionate Redheads, the team whom make up many of the neighbors of the Newser office building, raised $307,810 Lindens, or $1,231.

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

It's a week full of events in Second Life. Right now, Bay City is holding it's "Hot Bay City Nights" auto show, for those who admire a good set of wheels. Stop by the latest art displays for what the artists on the Grid have to offer. And of course, we have listings of a cross-section of book and poetry readings, talk shows, DJ and live music events, church services, and a race.

"This is the official cinematic trailer for World of Warcraft's fourth expansion set, Mists of Pandaria, originally debuted at gamescom 2012 on August 16 in Cologne, Germany." Showing an Orc and a human shipwreck on the Pandaren island, it's notable that encountering a monk they drop their differences in seconds and fight it together, or rather try to.

"Whether you’re Horde or Alliance, there is one question we all must consider: “Why do we fight?”"

Monday, August 20, 2012

Earlier this summer, Gemma Cleanslate wrote about the Library of Arcadia. Recently, she heard that the library was due to be closed, but the contents were being set up at new locations. On a tip, she went to one place to have a look for herself to see how Arcadia's works were doing.

A few days ago, Linden Lab Lab made two announcements on their blog. One was about team behind the Exodus Viewer having worked on a project to improve graphics. But the one that's gotten more talk was about making Second Life accessible to users of the Steam gaming platform.

As some sharp-eyed developers have speculated, we’re going to make Second Life available on Steam in the next month or so.

Many of us have friends who are avid Steam gamers, but if you’re not familiar, Steam is a very popular online game platform that offers a wide range of titles (and will soon also offer other software as well).

What does this news mean for Second Life? You’ll still be able to access Second Life just as you can today; there won’t be any change to that. But, the more than 40 million people who use Steam will also be able to get Second Life as easily as they can get games like Portal.

We’ll make an announcement on the blog when Second Life is actually available on Steam, but in the meantime, if you have friends who are Steam gamers, let ‘em know it’s coming!

I couldn't find a thread of comments in the official forums about Steam, though there was one in the SL Universe forums. The residents there had mixed feelings about it, many feeling it would bring in easily bored teenagers whom were expecting a top performing system with little patience for the lag. A few thought the only ones whom would stick around would do so only for virtual porn and sex. Hamlet Au whom also talked about the Steam access, had among the most optimistic feelings about it, though the majority of those commenting were less cheerful.

There are a number of places and communities in Second Life that would appeal to gamers, such as Aria Clash, New Bastogne, WW2 Tribute, MadPea, and the Warbugs. Not being a top-end gaming system, the Grid would take some getting used to for them. Those looking strictly for "pawnage" may be hard to retain.

So what advantage does Second Life have? Unlike many other games made by multimillion dollar companies, those here are created by what amount to small businesses at most and teams of hobbyists at least. These are not made up of wealthy men (and women), but working stiffs whom are also amateur historians, sci-fi geeks, and programmers whom are more accessible and reachable to any questions and complaints.

There is one more advantage. Some gamers have more imagination than others. Seeing that the games in Second Life were created inworld not by Linden Labs but by other users, some may start getting ideas. Maybe a better-looking uniform, an idea for a new weapon, or perhaps a new villain/boss. In the historical combat RPs, players can work their way up the ranks. In both cases, talented gamers can not just play games, but become part of a team that develops them.

This, in my opinion, is what is most likely to keep any gamers Steam may draw in Second Life.

Sunday, August 19, 2012

Skylark LeFavre demonstrates a sci-fi firearm. We'd just been talking about griefers and ponies. Maybe this is why griefers have been going after them as other targets of theirs, such as "furries," have opposable thumbs, and weaponry.

A figure ran past me the other day while I was in my shop on Book Island. I was in the middle of a phone conversation and he escaped before I greeted him. But not wanting to be rude, especially in front of my own booth. I IM’d him with an apology. What followed was a long conversation with someone from the Ukraine. He spoke little English, I spoke no Ukrainian whatsoever. But we discussed literature at length, mentioned a few authors. These were Russian authors, one I had never heard of. Unfortunately, I didn’t give him a list of American authors like he asked for. I was too eager to find out what was big in the Ukraine. But there will undoubtedly be future conversations. That I will squeeze between those I have with people from China. Or those from England, living in China for several years Or my good friend from Australia, Well, you get the point. Book Island is a focusing point for worldwide culture. One of many throughout the Internet. They foster Worldwide communication. Which can only stimulate Worldwide Peace Personally, I’m waiting peacefully for the next international connection…..

Contributed by Sandor Zabelin to Book Island Events & Discussion Group

From Mal Burns, "Gentle Heron talks to SecondLife creator Philip Rosedale as part of the diability conference at Virtual Ability. The theme of the discussion is' Virtual Communities.' The event took place on Friday 3rd August 2012. This edit has been trimmed to remove some disturbance in our original broadcast."

For those unfamiliar with Philip Lindens' look, check here for when he updated.

Friday, August 17, 2012

What may be the oldest sim in Second Life with a country western theme, after seven years Salt Creek, home to the Coyote Country Saloon, is up for sale. Jorie Teichmann is the current owner, "I have run it for the past four years. It was up and running for three years before that. … It is the passing of an era unless I get a country western fan to run it."

Jorie gave me a brief tour of the place, on a mule-pulled wagon, "The design was unique and classic, copied by many … Fiddlers was the main competitor. The people who started it were originally co-owners here. We outlasted them by two years." We went in the Coyote Country Saloon, "Very classic design. This was a one of a kid build by one of the original owners, Jewel. Very talented lady. She got sick in real life. She sold it to me four and a half years ago. I lost contact with her too." He pointed upstairs, which had a number of cuddle spots and a dance area, "Always find lovers up there late at night."

Not far away was the Black Bart bull ride. Another popular spot, Jorie pointed out, was the chapel, complete with pews and altar, "Lots of folks come here." And another spot people went to was the beach. Jorie also mentioned special events, such as a memorial service to the 10th anniversary of 9-11, "twenty four hours continuous music, all life. All the performers donated their services. We donated proceeds to the 9-11 First Responders Fund."

Another event they held was "Dancing with the AvaStars," in which eight couples competed over four weeks. Every Christmas, they would have decorations up, as well as visits from Santa. And at Halloween, the Headless Horseman would ride through.

We came across one other regular, Dearstluv Writer, "A lot of devotion here. It's been quality, not quantity. If you were to move your dreams from real life to SL, it was here. It's just tat the pocketbook wasn't quite as generous." "I just can't afford it any more," Jorie explained, "I wish I could think of more, just a great place."

To get to the sim, head to Salt Creek (190, 148, 21). The tier date is Aug 24, so it maybe gone after that. For those interested in buying, contact Jorie Teichmann, whom is offering to sell the sim, build, and group for 1,300 dollars, or 400 for just the sim without the builds, tier being $295.00 a month

Among the regulars here was Any1 Gynoid, whom had come across the place on his first day, and ket coming over.

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Some sad news for Australians in Second Life. According to the Metaverse Tribune, ABC Island (Australian Broadcasting Corporation) will be closing it's doors in about a month, on September 22, 2012.

"The Island has been a staple of the Australian Second Life scene since March 2007," the Journal reported, stating the sim had undergone a number of changes over the years, "Given the relatively small number of Australian visitors compared to it's heyday, it's not a shock that the ABC are redirecting the funds. That doesn't make it easier for the small and dedicated bunch of volunteer admins of the sim."

Daniel Voyager had this to say, "ABC Island in Second Life is a dynamic and distinctively Australian destination providing visitors with opportunities to design, create, and showcase objects, discover a hidden underground music club, listen to indigenous stories, wander round an environmentally friendly eco house, experience ABC audio and video in a social environment and attend live screening and concerts."

According to Wikipedia, ABC is Australia's national public broadcasting service, providing radio, television, and more recently online services across Australia and overseas. It is government funded and owned. (http://www.abc.net.au/)

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

Another picture from the July Warbug air show. Medals were given out to those participating in the air combat. Due to some of the flyers being "tinies," the size could be adjusted. The intent was for a better fit for the smaller avatars, but as the picture shows, one wag took it the other way. Wonder if those would fit a "Colossus" av?

Four years ago in 2008, it wasn't too hard to find reflections of the US Presidential Election in Second Life. During the Presidential Primaries, a number of places on the Grid were set up for candidates by supporters. At Capitol Hill, showings of the debates, as well as election night's returns, were shown and moderated. And of course there were the Republican and Democrat hangouts, notably the Straight Talk Cafe and Cafe Wellstone.

Today in 2012, this year's election doesn't seem to have quite the same impact here. Part of it may have to do with the real-life media spotlight largely off of Second Life. Also the Capitol Hill sim is gone, and with it the most noted spot of neutral ground debates had. And then there's the theme to the election itself. Four years ago, we had a crusty old war hero against a promising up and coming young candidate. Today, the President's once shiny promises have long been replaced by gritty realities, challenged by a candidate whom while competent seems more than a little bland. And of course there's the deepening partisan divide. Drama-shy residents may be more than a little reluctant to get involved in discussions they fear may quickly become heated.

For those interested in participating in political discussion, there are still some places one can go to. For Democrats/liberals and progressives, there is Cafe Wellstone in the mainland Pini sim (56, 78, 45), next to the highway. For Republicans/conservatives, with the closing of the GOP Cafe (formerly the Straight Talk Cafe), their place with the most traffic seems to be The Republican Party of SL Headquarters in the Sunset River sim (180, 198, 23). Second Life Newser does not yet have weekly schedules of either location.

Do you the readers have any stories of political debate in Second Life, or know of another location where it takes place regularly? By all means let us know.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

It's a week full of events on the Grid. There are a number of art shows on Second Life, such as Synesthesia and "Exit/Enter." And we have our regularly scheduled events from book and poetry readers, to talk shows, to church services, and music DJ events.

For those of you who weren't able to make it to the Town Hall meeting on the 11th of August, here's the skinny!

This year our event -- the only Burning Man Regional Event that is allowed to burn the man -- will be held from the 20th to 28th of October.

Expect to see all the events you've come accustomed to, building on the playa before the event, and even BURN2 only activities like the Skin Burn! We'll even be having some great workshops leading up to the event, including a porta potty building workshop on Sunday, the 19th of August at 5:00 p.m. SLT!

This years theme? After much discussion, we're proud to announce that the community sought to remain aligned with the theme of the big burn in Black Rock City. Out theme is Fertility!

For 2012, we are offering four regions, with 61 camp parcels for sale and an additional 34 parcels to be given away. We're also inviting four artists to the event: watch for more information on the artists we've invited soon.

We have eight art parcels we'll be giving away specifically for juried art: three 2048m parcels and five 1024m parcels. Additionally, five 1024m juried theme camps are being offered. If you want to apply for one of these, please visit the juried art and theme camp submission form at http://burn2.org/art_camp_submissions

We're very excited about parcel pricing this year. We applied over US$2,400.00 in donations to help reduce the cost of parcels. The prices for this year's Burn2 parcels is as follows:

There is also a lottery for 17 512m camp plots. Donate L$10 to enter the lottery. Only one entry per person, please, and these parcels can not be transferred nor sold.

Finally, as always, we're always blessed with your time. If you wish to volunteer as a greeter, a guide, a translator, or other needs, Check in at the volunteer signup form at http://www.burn2.org/volunteer-signup. If you're a DJ or a live performer who is interested in performing at the event, please contact Buttermilk Panacek!

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BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man regional event, and the only virtual world event out of more than 100 real world Regional groups.

The BURN2 Team operates events year around, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall - a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.

We'd like to encourage you to use the following labels and hashtags when you write about the event: Burn2, #burn2 . We will promote those tags to make it easier for people to find your content

Monday, August 13, 2012

A few years ago, Bixyl Shuftan wrote a much commented-on article about people getting banned from places because of their avatar's appearance. Recently, he was alerted about a protest at the Titanic sim, the protestors saying they were banning furry avatars even though they were following the dress code. But a closer look suggested a somewhat different story.

Any1 Gynoid recently pointed out the latest entry on the Phoenix blog by Jessica Lyon. She explained that Pathfinding, the new tools for smarter non-player characters in Second Life, were going to be rolled out on August 7 which "may have an impact on the performance of your regions, as well as introduce some new bugs." Pathfinding would be running on the sims as soon as they were updated.

Jessica wrote that the Lindens assured her that the impact on the sims would be small. But Region owners and mangers could disable it (or re-enable) if they wanted. Or they could optimize it, which could be done by downloading the official Beta Viewer from Linden Lab. Unfortunetly, "along with Pathfinding come changes to the Havok Physics engine, which have introduced some new bugs … including issues with some vehicles, physics, phantom, and sculpts." She had sent a list of questions to the Lab, and got a few answers in response.

Jessica's entry got a number of comments, mostly complaints about Linden Lab. In the official blog, a thread on the subject was started, which was more balanced. One woman there felt the update had gone so smoothly, Jessica hadn't the need to post about it. Others felt there were a few complications.

Gemma Cleanslate recently went to an active recreation of a Wild West community: Dodge City. In this roleplay area, the residents reenact life in the American West in the 1870s. From Cheyenne braves, to soldiers in Fort Hawker, to outlaws, and of course the townsfolk trying to make a living, the place has many kinds of people, and is still looking for more.

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Brushing away fresh prim shavings, plans were rezzed across the work table in the twinkie, a dusty quonset hut surrounded by desert. Out spilled notecards full of ideas and textures of wonderful things yet to be. It was time to tell everyone what was to come.

Come one and all to a very special town hall meeting at Center Camp on Burning Man- Deep Hole on the 11th of August at 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. SLT/PDT.

• Want to know how much parcels will cost? We'll tell you!

• Looking for apply for a theme camp or a juried art plot? Be here and learn how!

• Dying to know which artists we've invited? This is the place to find out!

• Just want to know the theme so you can get busy? Come on down!

You'll even find plot sales and donation kiosks out at the event, and even Burningman 2.0 group joiners. There will even be some fun to be had. Who doesn't love fun? Head to Deep Hole!

DeepHole, 224, 92, 24

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BURN2 is an extension of the Burning Man festival and community into the world of Second Life. It is an officially sanctioned Burning Man regional event, and the only virtual world event out of more than 100 real world Regional groups.

The BURN2 Team operates events year around, culminating in an annual major festival of community, art and fire in the fall - a virtual echo of Burning Man itself.

We'd like to encourage you to use the following labels and hashtags when you write about the event: Burn2, #burn2 . We will promote those tags to make it easier for people to find your content

Friday, August 10, 2012

Grease Coakes recently took a look at Diablo 3, a recently released game by Blizzard, the makers of World of Warcraft. The game gets it's name from the main bad guy, Diablo the Lord of Hell. Before facing him, one has to build up one's character. So just how is the gameplay? Read inside to find more.

So what have my neighbors in Second Life been up to when not on Second Life? Two years ago, many were going about in World of Warcraft under their own guild, also called "Sunweavers." Today, I haven't been seeing as much activity there lately. So where have they been going? The answer is Minecraft.

Xymbers Slade first looked at the game in April. Myself, it wasn't until more recently when Nydia Tungsten invited me to take a look. She and others from the Sunweaver and Angels Estates had been working away, and eventually I joined up to see for myself what was going on.

As it turned out, Nydia and the others had built a walled village, named Angels Village, in a private server. Small houses were set up for members who had joined, the beds being where characters would re-rez if they croaked in the game. Crops had been planted to harvest food from, such as pumpkins and sugar cane. And one surprise were the tamed wolves, which helped keep out the monsters that come out at night in the game.

Besides Nydia, Lomgren Smalls helped me out a bit. He was one of the main builders here, working on something when I arrived. Asking if he had gotten used to being the same size as everyone else, Nydia chuckled, "Oh, with the size of the spiders, he jokes we've shrunk down to his level." Both Nydia and Lom had gotten customized skins from http://www.minecraftskins.com/ . I would later get a fox appearance.

Nydia and Lom showed me around a little, such as a mine complex dug beneath the village, and some of the surrounding land. Some useful info was bits like "Do not dig directly below you or above as you never know what might lie beneath or above." There are caverns in the game, and one could fall to one's end. Also, monsters do not always go away at sunup, but zombies can take refuge in the shade of a forest. And while they spawn in darkness, the infamous creepers and walk anywhere.

Besides the Sunweavers/Angels, other communities in Second Life have been making their mark in Minecraft. Xymbers Slade told me he was exploring around in the Caledon server. And earlier this year, New World Notes did an article earlier this year about one estate owner who found his community's Minecraft server was bringing in new renters.

So far, have spent just a little time at Angels Village, or in Single Player mode to try my luck on my own. Haven't croaked yet, though haven't found any mother lodes of ores either. A real Minecraft adventure will have to wait for a future article. But here is an example of how a community in Second Life made a place in another Grid.

*Correction* Nydia later told me her skin didn't come from a website, but L'sai Aeon made it.